Final: WKU 84, Xavier (La.) 69

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Here are some comments from WKU coach Ken McDonald following the exhibition win:

On Sergio Kerusch’s foot injury:

“He’s got a sore foot, he turned it a little bit diving for a ball. It swelled up a lot the other day and it’s given him a chance to kind of sit back and watch practice. The swelling has gone down but we’re just being very precautionary and making sure he’s fine. But we expect him back at practice within a day or two to start getting ready for St. Joe’s.”

“I didn’t even know he hurt it after the game and I don’t think he realized it until it swelled up. It’s scary, especially after what he went through. A turned ankle is one thing, but when it’s not a turned ankle I get kind of scared – I do that over at Preston and it’s not a big deal. But when it’s other stuff, you worry. But it looks like he’s going to be fine.”

On the team’s overall defensive effort tonight:

“After the first game I didn’t think we were a very physical team, fighting through screens, beating drives, taking charges, making strong cuts – that’s all part of good basketball and winning basketball. We have to continue to improve in those areas and we’re going to have some fouls with our aggression level, but I think a lot of our fouls tonight were because guys were being aggressive and trying to do what we asked them to. So you can live with some of those.”

On Ken Brown bouncing back at practice this week:

“I think there’s an adjustment period for each player and each guy handles it differently. A lot of times kids come from a program where they’re a little more freelance and can do their own thing. But we’re on a high level here and it’s not so easy to go out and play, you’ve got to listen to what we’re doing and stick with it and handle coaching. He’s done a good job of bouncing back after being in the doghouse a little bit. The last three days he’s been excellent and that’s why he played tonight and he took advantage, I was very proud of him.”

On getting out-rebounded tonight:

“We’re not a good blockout team right now and that’s something we’re going to have to really change in a hurry. Part of it is that we’re athletic and we think we can just go get (rebounds), but we’re going to have to really concentrate on that over the next six days before our first game.”

On freshman Brandon Peters:

“I thought Snap was outstanding tonight. … He goes out and has seven steals, eight assists and scored some points. His willingness to compete and defend for a freshman is something to watch – I’m excited about the possibilities for him and I was very happy with his effort tonight.”

“He comes from a program that defends a lot and the aggression level is always at a high level for a high school team. He likes defending and you don’t catch a lot of high school players that come in with that mentality. He’s physical and he likes it like that. He doesn’t shy away from contact, he has a lot of pride with that in his game and it shows. He also has really good pace, I think he only had one turnover, he doesn’t get too out of control. He knows how to feed the post and if he doesn’t have something, he just passes it. A very mature game for a freshman.”

“He can do a little bit of everything. He’s got good mid-range game and he attacks the rim very well. I’m also confident he can hit 3’s, he hit six straight in practice the other day. He’s very confident and I want him to shoot when he’s open, I want him to drive and continue to use that pace that we talk about.”

On the overall play of his point guards:
“I wanted those guys to get the ball moving. I think they both have ability to get in the lane and create. There were a couple times where they could’ve pulled and kicked, but I wanted to get the ball moving. We had a tendency of just standing around last year and we still sort of do and we’re trying to get that out of our system. Ball movement is key right now. That’s where they’re going to get some assists. And I think that’ll come.”